Simulated combat, similar in nature to war games performed by the armed forces, has become one of the most rapidly growing leisure time activities of recent times. From about 1981, at its inception, such activity has grown to more than five hundred thousand participants today. the sport has grown to the point of being organized into teams, associations and the like. It has also been noted that paintball is one of the fastest growing outdoor sports in the country, and is currently played in over twelve different countries.
The participants in such games, also known as paint ball, use pressure-operated weapons to fire gelatin-coated projectiles containing a water-soluble dye at each other. Upon impact, the projectile marks the target with the dye. The combat can include maneuvers, captures and the like, and this sport has generated a plethora of equipment-related elements, including helmets, vests, visors and the like.
The weapons used in paint ball, have been the focus of development as well, and generally include a source of pressurized gas, such as carbon dioxide, which is controlled by a pump-action element, and the projectiles are fed into a firing chamber for firing from a container.
Heretofore, the ammunition, that is, the pant balls, has been stored in boxes that can be mounted on the weapon. However, such ammunition storage containers have several drawbacks which tend to detract from the full enjoyment of the activity.
For example, in such containers, the paint balls have tended to jam as these balls enter the firing chamber. Such jamming can result in simply a blast of gas (sans projectile) or a slicing of the paint ball in the firing chamber.
Additionally, as the container empties, the remaining paint balls have had a tendency to rattle about thereby giving a player away.
The inventor has observed that the paintballs will not jam when the container is fully loaded. All present ammunition boxes do have a tendency to jam. Secondly, it is noted that the ammunition box should have a capability of storing a large number of paintballs.
Therefore, there is a need for a projectile container for use with a weapon which selectively discharges projectiles under the influence of fluid pressure which is not likely to cause the weapon to jam in use, does not have a tendency to rattle when partially empty, and has a capability of storing a large number of projectiles, yet can still be inexpensive to manufacture. Specifically, there is a need for such a container which can be used in conjunction with a paint ball weapon.